Air freight is the shipment and transfer of goods via an air carrier that may be commercial or charter. Such shipments can travel out of commercial and passenger aviation gateways to anywhere the planes can fly and land. The global air freight market report is segmented by aircraft type and freight item. The aircraft type segment is further segmented into express, all cargo, ad hoc cargo & charter carrier, and combination. The freight item segment is further segmented into pharmaceutical, machinery & electrical equipment, aircraft spare part, and others.

Market Dynamics
The increasing economic activity and world trade is the one of the most important economic drivers for the global air freight market. Although the economic conditions have been moderate over the past few years, they have recently started to improve. Air freight has remained an indispensable tool for the transport of time-sensitive commodities, like perishables, high-value, low-weight goods, including consumer electronics, high-fashion apparel, pharmaceuticals, industrial machinery, and high-value intermediate goods, such as auto parts.

The global air freight market grew by 6.9% Year-on-Year in 2017, which is more than its five-year average growth rate. The APAC region held the largest market share with more than 40% of the total market in 2016 and it increased by 7.5% Y-o-Y, with China leading with 15% of the total market share, and which, is expected to continue in the future. Mature markets, like North America and Europe, have started to recover after the global economic meltdown and are showing promising signs of growth. This is evident from their growth rates, which are 8.7% and 8.5%, respectively.
The rising fuel prices has a complex effect on this market and air transport has become more expensive. However, it is also driving the need for more efficient planes, which has created a market for advanced cargo-only flights. Of the current global cargo fleet, 61% have been converted from old passenger flights. However, this is changing gradually and will have an positive on the market, as the performance, efficiency, and reliability of new, purpose-built freighters are expected to outweigh the low purchase prices for converted large freighters in the long run, especially for intercontinental operations, where high cargo density, larger payloads, and extended range are crucial.

Segmentation
The report analysis looks into the current composition of the cargo fleets of various major airlines around the world, segregating them on the basis of size, like wide-body aircraft, very large aircraft, and narrow-body aircraft, across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The market has been segmented on the basis of aircraft and freight item.